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Christian Eriksen: Could he leave Inter Milan for PSG?
Christian Eriksen may have only arrived at Inter Milan in January but it seems as though the Danish midfielder’s talents in Serie A are already courting interest from elsewhere in European football.
According to Gazzetta dello Sport, Eriksen and his representatives are considering an exit from the Italian side less than a year after joining, following interest from Ligue 1 champions Paris Saint-Germain.
At 28 years of age, Eriksen clearly still has plenty to offer a club pushing for major trophies domestically and in Europe and has already shown that in his short spell in Milan.
Eriksen’s performances for Inter Milan
For example, in last season’s Serie A Eriksen was eighth among the divisions top attacking midfielders for chance creating passes P90. In fact, the midfielder was second only to Atlanta’s Papu Gomez in last season’s competition for how often he created build up passes for his new side.
From the heart of Inter’s midfield, Eriksen also excelled at early crosses into the box as a tactic to offer a more direct route to goal for the club’s attacking players. Over the course of the previous league campaign, the Danish playmaker was second in the division for early crosses P90 among midfielders and fourth for the accuracy of those crosses.
While the former Tottenham Hotspur star may not have been the player to put the ball in the back of the net or lay off the pass to the player that did, Eriksen’s role as a deep-lying playmaker clearly helped Inter to a second-place finish as the side averaged a remarkable 2.29 goals per game after he joined the team in February.
Where would he fit in at PSG?
Few would doubt that Thomas Tuchel’s PSG side is full of attacking quality that can score and create goals at will, but there may be a spot in this Parisian squad for Eriksen that is currently unfilled by anyone at the club.
PSG’s top-heavy side means that star forwards like Kylian Mbappe, Neymar and Angel Di Maria not only score the French side’s goals, but also do most of the goal creating as well. Over the course of last season the most creative central midfielder was Julian Draxler, yet the German midfielder only managed seven assists in 34 games. That’s where Eriksen could perhaps fill in.
Tuchel has plenty of outstanding holding midfielders to pick from – such as Leandro Paredes, Marco Verratti, Ander Herrera and Idrissa Gueye – but when it comes to intricate, precise playmaking, the Paris club are perhaps lacking the kind of skills Eriksen could offer in abundance.